[Football] Take nothing for granted, how the 'mighty' are fallen

[Poojah]

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And risen. 1997/98 bottom of Division 4.

The four who survived have been in the Premier League since. Three also reaching major finals.

Doncaster Rovers made it back to Division 2 and played us opening day at the AMEX.

It's funny, I actually posted this very excerpt on a Grimsby forum a couple of days ago. I was born in 1985 and 97/98 was our greatest season in my lifetime and generally considered 'up there' in the club's history. We won the Auto Windscreens Shield and what would now be the League One play-offs - having never been to Wembley in our history we went there, and won, twice in the space of five weeks. All playing some of the best football I have witnessed in my time as a Town fan, brilliant pass and move stuff (you'd probably call it tiki-taka nowadays).

Evidently the Brighton story is a brilliant one, but how we have found ourselves so far behind all of those clubs in the intervening 20 years or so is absolutely criminal. If it wasn't for a Covid outbreak, we'd be kicking off our second stint in non-league on Saturday away at Bromley. You lot have had to work hard for it over the years no doubt, but enjoy what you've got and never take it for granted; I expect you are the envy of a lot of football fans throughout the country. On so many levels.

 

[Brovion]

Conversely if we were to splash out £30m on that striker and pay him £85k per week, some would say that there would be more chance of us staying in the Premier League, and not heading south through the divisions.

I'm not saying that l necessarily think that, l'm simply plkaying Devils's Advocate you understand!

Just as well you are playing Devil's Advocate as that 'speculate to accumulate' approach is a financially moronic view that has doomed many a club in the past. Interesting that Bradford City are mentioned as they tried exactly that with Benito Carbone (and Stan Colleymore). They'd just avoided relegation the previous season and wanted to 'move to the next level'. Carbone was a success inasmuch as he scored goals - but they still got relegated and his wages ruined them. Iirc he eventually agreed to a payoff when it became obvious he'd never get all the millions he was owed.

So if a club DO want to spend £30m on a striker and give him say a three year contract worth over £13m (at £85k pw) - they'd bloody better well be able to afford it and not just view it as a hopeful gamble. Given our losses I'm not 100% certain we can.

 

[herecomesaregular]

Tonight's League 1 (third division, old money) table shows....

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i don't like how so many "big" clubs have fallen so far tbh, to be replaced with little noddy clubs with few fans. I like a giant killing and a "big" club being relegated but tbf not for them to fall too far, I'd rather they bounced back at some point. I actually hope Sunderland, Pompey get promoted. As mentioned aswell, there are too many historic old clubs (eg Notts County) too far down the leagues now for my liking. And that doesn't mean I'm pro ESL in any way, it just saddens me. Our rise is pheonix-like but in today's times would it be possible again? Unlikely. Thank God for Dick Knight et al.

 

[Brovion]

0-0 wasn't it? They brought around 50 supporters who stood on the terrace in the norh west corner. I have a photo.....

One of the worst games I have ever watched. At that time if we put three passes together or even just one decent ball into the opposition's half, it was a miracle.

It was also Fans Utd Two - which like all sequels and remakes wasn't a patch on the original. I went in a St Pauli hoodie (which tbf I'd worn to other Albion games) and someone said something to me in German. I just said "Ja!" and smiled.

 

[Lenny Rider]

We were abysmal that season, it was like watching a pub team - how the hell did we manage to get 35 points?

But if the budget will only cater for a pub team, that's what you get, thankfully the Arsonist Chairman was still in situ at Belle Vue otherwise we'd have possibly been going back to Withdean in 1999 in the Conference?

 

[Arthur]

I work with a young lad who didn't quite make it as a pro, he made 30 or so appearances for Plymouth before being released.

He's at Bath now so still playing a decent level (conference south). We often chat about football and he is still hopeful for a career in the game, damn sight more exciting than release management anyway.

The other week he mentioned they had a pre-season game against Hereford which made me think oh what might have been. I doubt people on here would have been losing their shit over having to show some ID that is for sure.

 

[herecomesaregular]

Hate to break it to you - that's how a lot of other fans perceive us.

I've never found that tbf. Most proper football fans I've spoken to know we've also knocked around the top two leagues a bit on the odd occasions. I would rather see historic clubs like Notts C, Stockport, Grimsby , Southend etc further up the leagues than Morecambe, Fleetwood, Barrow. (edit - and Hereford, Halifax etc)

 

[Dick Swiveller]

A pedant writes - how are the mighty fallen!

Samuel 1:27 - How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished! (King James Bible)

How the mighty are fallen is a modern translation.

Here endeth the sermon from the noted Agnostic, Mr Swiveller.

---

 

[Garry Nelson's teacher]

Funnily enough you don't hear much about the Wanderers or the Royal Engineers (first Cup Finalists) these days either...................

 

[zefarelly]

One of life’s mysteries. We were an abomination…. And yet I still went to Gillingham to watch it. The game against Doncaster was about as bad as it got.


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Likewise, I think we were a combination or trolleyed and conditioned to dreadful football as I don't remember enough to feel in anyway disappointed or frustrated like I do know!

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Funnily enough you don't hear much about the Wanderers or the Royal Engineers (first Cup Finalists) these days either...................

Or Sheffield FC, the first ever football club to be formed.

I wonder how long it was before they were able to play their first game?

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

It's funny, I actually posted this very excerpt on a Grimsby forum a couple of days ago. I was born in 1985 and 97/98 was our greatest season in my lifetime and generally considered 'up there' in the club's history. We won the Auto Windscreens Shield and what would now be the League One play-offs - having never been to Wembley in our history we went there, and won, twice in the space of five weeks. All playing some of the best football I have witnessed in my time as a Town fan, brilliant pass and move stuff (you'd probably call it tiki-taka nowadays).

Evidently the Brighton story is a brilliant one, but how we have found ourselves so far behind all of those clubs in the intervening 20 years or so is absolutely criminal. If it wasn't for a Covid outbreak, we'd be kicking off our second stint in non-league on Saturday away at Bromley. You lot have had to work hard for it over the years no doubt, but enjoy what you've got and never take it for granted; I expect you are the envy of a lot of football fans throughout the country. On so many levels.

I started Uni in 98. My best mate there was a Grimsby fan and absolutely loved those two finals.

At the time I was quite jealous, my only trip to Wembley had seen us lose the play off final to notts county and we fell off the cliff from that point. Relegation to the third tier followed by Archer, the ground being sold, relegation to the fourth tier, back to back 23rd place finishes in the bottom tier. That 97-98 season was the first in Gillingham and our second of those back to back second last place finishes.

So when we met our two clubs were heading in very different directions. Just getting back to the second tier seemed like a life time away. It's funny how things can change so dramatically. And a reminder not to believe they won't change again.

 

[carlzeiss]

Opened this thread expecting it to be about the United States Of America not a northernshitehouse football team

 

[Pavilionaire]

Samuel 1:27 - How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished! (King James Bible)

Is this where the phrase 'bible basher' originated from?

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

Took this on 25 April 2009 and remember feeling elated that we'd avoided the drop

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

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Took this on 25 April 2009 and remember feeling elated that we'd avoided the drop

On the day our old boy Stuart Storer's then team Hinkley United were beaten at Stafford Rangers.

 

[jcdenton08]

Re: Fans United 2, the Doncaster game at Gillingham. I am pretty sure that was the infamous 45 minutes Michael Mahoney-Johnson played for us... one of the funniest/saddest things I've ever seen on a football field. Oh, and he was subbed off for David Adekola, who also never played again in the stripes.

It was so, so grim.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Re: Fans United 2, the Doncaster game at Gillingham. I am pretty sure that was the infamous 45 minutes Michael Mahoney-Johnson played for us... one of the funniest/saddest things I've ever seen on a football field. Oh, and he was subbed off for David Adekola, who also never played again in the stripes.

It was so, so grim.

So grim in fact it was the one time since 1985/86 l have given up my season ticket, reinstating it a season into our move to the Theatre of Trees.

 

[maresfield seagull]

Likewise, I think we were a combination or trolleyed and conditioned to dreadful football as I don't remember enough to feel in anyway disappointed or frustrated like I do know!

Impossible to be disappointed We were worse than shite Expectations zero
Black/ gallows humour kept the silly few travelling across to north Kent

 

[Dave the OAP]

I miss those days of proper football!